BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Hundreds of students, birdwatchers, and visitors are expected to participate in the 7th Ibong Dayo Festival at the Balanga City Wetland and Nature Park here on December 9.
City Mayor Francis Garcia and Vice Mayor Vianca Venzon-Gozon will lead the festivity to include activities aiming to protect and conserve migratory birds and their habitats in Balanga.
The leadership of Garcia and Venzon-Gozon vowed to continue the program protecting migratory birds in the city started by then-mayor and now Bataan second district Rep. Joet Garcia.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Environment Secretary Regina Lopez are scheduled to grace the festival, according to PIA Bataan Manager Jose Mari Garcia.
In 2011, the Department of Tourism had included the villages of Tortugas, Sibacan, and Puerto Rivas, all in this city, as among the 13 official bird-watching sites in the Philippines.
The agency also launched a tourist guidebook of the bird-watching sites in the country last year.
The wetland park here is the first along the Manila Bay Area where bird enthusiasts can watch and picnic with friends.
Balanga is a stopover of thousands of migratory birds from Canada, China and other countries.
Published reports say that more than 600 species of birds have been recorded throughout the country, of which at least 230 are endemic or found only in the Philippines.